mlapaglia

1: For holsters and belts I use 8/9 Hermann Oak 2: Depends on the belt. If its just a belt to hold up your pants than line with lesser weight or use two pieces of 4/5. If its a gun belt that needs to stay stiff and support guns and other tools of the trade then two sides of 8/9 works really well. 3: Let your dye dry 24 hours then Buff, buff buff and then Buff again. Keep buffing until there is no more dye rub off. If you are doing black search for Vinegaroon. Its better than dye and doesnt rub off. 4: Before sealer. I apply it before I dye. It makes the dye sink in better. Hope that helps. I have a Boss. You are going to love it. Remember that the first 2 days you will want to throw it out until you get the tensions figured out. Then its heaven Michael

What type of dye are you using? What weight of leather? where did you get the leather? These answers would help.

You have a good start there. You actually need to get the stitch line closer on the trigger side of the holster. There is room to put a third line in there. If left like it is now it iwill get loose on you pretty quick. stitch line spacing is normally have the width of the gun plus the size of a single piece of leather. So in the case of a Shield 9mm its .5" for half the width and then 8/64 for one layer of leather. works out to about 5/8th" from the edge of the gun is where the stitch should go. Keep at it you have a real good start on it and it looks good.

Andy post some pictures here. People might be interested if they could see it. Not everyone will take the time to contact you for the pictures.

What leather are you using? By that I mean where are you buying it from? Herman Oak leather has a great flesh side that really does not need anything other than dye if you want a different color. If you have cheaper leather like the stuff from Tandy you can treat it with Gum Trag. Put some on and rub in in with a burnisher. I used a wooden dowel to smooth the leather after the gum trag is applied. That works really well then give it a coat of resoline 50/50 with water. It all depends on what you are looking for.

Agreed, wallets and belts. Once you have saddle stitched a belt you will know how to saddle stitch.

Feiblings "Leather balm and Atom wax" make a less than shiny finish. Kiwi neutral shoe polish rubbed in well with your fingers and then buffed with sheep skin wool is not as shiny. Satin Sheen is a satin finish from Tandy. THey also have a new Eco-Flo Professional Matte Finish that works well but really stinks. The smell goes away but I only use it outside. Very chemical smell. I used to use Carnuba wax on leather years ago. We used Simonize car wax. I wouldnt use the new stuff but a goog carnuba wax should do the job. Carnuba is a very hard wax so if you can get the pellets you mix it 1 part carnuba, 1 part bees wax and 1 part neetsfoot oil. Melt it together and then rub into the leather with a hair dryer getting it warm as you go. Does a great job.

What size needle and thread are you using? If the thread doesn't have a number than how many cords is it. (cords = strands). What size drill bit?

WOW, nice. Did you strip the tree and put on all new leather? Great job

Tandy sells Harness needles Get a #0 NOT the #000. Its a good start. Then you can look elsewhere for a #1 needle. The #0 is a lot smaller than the Big eye needle.

Looks good. I too believe the kydex is too hard on the finish. Have you thought about using a smaller drill bit for your stitching holes or using an awl. It would improve the look of the stitching.

It is also possible that the leather we see after the brushing is not the same piece that was being brushed. It is not unusual to have more than one piece of whatever is being shot. They could have changed it for a better piece after the first shots and the editor decided to use some of the original footage anyway.

I use a center presser foot for the Boss. For me it works best. Its only a little bit wider than the needle and sits on both sides. I can get within a 1/16" to an edge with it. Works well for me.It doesnt hold the leather real well but its great when nothing else fits.

Eric, On the whole it looks good. Two minor issues. One, the main menu at the bottom of the page is not where people normally expect to see it. That may bother some people. Two, I looked at the Avenger page and the Effect Wipes on the main picture is very slow and annoying. It might speed it up some if you can turn off the wipe transition. Just a thought. It looks much better than anything I could have done. Michael.

When I got mine last year it came with a bonus pack of all the presser feet. I normally use the left hand zipper foot but in your case the center foot is exactly what I would use for that project. If you only have one extra the center is the one to have. Michael

I'm confused, It seems like you have the basic tools, and leather. You know how to stitch it. What exactly is the 2000.00 going for? Is there a list we can look at? Since you already seem to be making leather goods what is the purpose of the money?

Your other option is to get one of us that has a sewing machine to sew it for you. My first belt I paid one of the members here to sew it for me. Best money I ever spent. Pm me if you need a price to sew it.

I stitch damp leather and it works fine. It shouldnt be dripping wet but properly cased leather can be stitched and look very good.

No he meant the leather. Is the area you want to stamp square to itself?

I'm glad I was able to help. Light impressions is a process called block dying To make the impressions lighter than the rest of the belt you wrap the cloth around a flat block, But dye on the cloth and blot off the excess. Then carefully wipe the dye on the leather making sure to not press hard enough to get dye in the impressions. A reverse antiquing. Again it takes practice. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Lets start with my error. I left out one step on the list. I did the belt below by stamping it, It's Herman Oak leather. Then died it with the new tan stain from Tandy. 1 Coat of Neetsfoot oil, let set over night. Then 2 coats of 50/50 resolene let dry over night. Used the Tandy Eco-fo Antique dk brown. Applied it on the thick side and took a damp flat cloth and wiped it off. Changed the cloth often and only used it flat never bunched. This way it wiped the antique off the high points of the design and the plain border. 1 coat 50/50 resolene stitched it. 1 coat 50/50 resolene then rubbed in Kiwi neutral polish with my fingers and buffed it with sheep wool. The neetsfoot oil is to recondition the leather. Do it before you resist. Resolene is an acrylic finish. It works really well as a resist. I dilute it 50/50 with water then apply it with a 1" foam brush. Let dry an hour and do the second coat than let dry over night. Then do the antique. FYI, on the antique, I ammpy it a little on the thick side. I dont rub it in just aly it on thick so it getts down in to all the stamped and cut areas. Then when I remove it there is a lot in the deep places. Your problems with the belt are a result of a few issues. 1: your leather looks like it was too wet when you stamped it. You have no real definition in the stamp marks. This causes the antique to get wiped out. You need deeper stamps. Leather that is too wet will not keep the stamp marks well. Re-wetting the leather will cause it to swell and make the stamp marks shallow. When you case the leather wet it and then let it dry until it is almost the color of when it is dry. the surface might be a little dry but the core of the leather has the right moisture content. 2: You are using some of the worse stamps Tandy makes. Both of the large flowers are nasty. I have both of them and its very hard to get a good clear impression. You will notice that the only place you for some of the resist to stick was the one small flower that had some deep impressions. The leaf stamp is also pretty light. Along with the cacsed leather make sure you give it a good smack with the mallet. Try some other stamps. Something you have that makes a good impression. It does not need to look like a great design you are making a test piece. Stamp a few designs on some well cased leather. If you want make 2-3 impressions off all the stamps you have. Then follow the steps I listed in this email. If you do not have any neetsfoot oil use olive oil. It works well. Make sure you let the oil sit over night. Using resolene as a resist let that dry over night after the second coat. Then antique and let that dry. Then apply one coat of the resolene. I have also used leather balm & atom wax as the coat after the antique. Buff after its dry. The kiwi polish is to give the leather a final, additional finish. It takes the gloss from the resolene down a notch or two. Once you case it correctly and get a good stamp to use you will see that the rest will all come together just fine. Let me know if you have and additional questions. I am happy to help. If you really want the impressions to be light you are going to have to wipe the antique off very gently. Make sure to leave it in the impressions. I might try wrapping a cloth around a sanding block or something else flat to make sure the cloth doenst get in to the impressions. It just takes practice. Keep working on practice pieces until you get it right. Learn it first on good deep impressions then work on getting it on light impressions.

A picture of the belt you had problems with would help. I did the belt below by stamping it, It's Herman Oak leather. Then died it with the new tan stain from Tandy. Then 2 coats of 50/50 resolene let dry over night. Used the Tandy Eco-fo Antique dk brown. Rubbed it on and took a damp flat cloth and wiped it off. Changed the cloth often and only used it flat never bunched. This way it wiped the antique off the high points of the design and the plain border. 1 coat 50/50 resolene stitched it. 1 coat 50/50 resolene then rubbed in Kiwi neutral polish with my fingers and buffed it with sheep wool. FYI you can remove the antique if it smears on the unstamped places with an alcohol wipe. takes it right off but you need to put more resolene on the area. It worked well for what I wanted. Like I said we really need to see your belt to tell what happened. You can see more about this belt here

As often as you need to keep that smooth cut feeling. Change to a piece of leather 2" wide and 6" - 10" long. 2-3 strokes on each side of the blade and back to carving. The brand of leather and the thickness is one of the factors on how often you strop. The amount of water in the leather is another factor. There is no set amount. The longer strop may help you go longer between strops. Strop as often as you need to.

Elko Leather Show July 20 & 21, 2012

Thank you ma'am.